the true mind of God, he was wont to say this of himself: "He hath said,
which heard the words of God and knew the knowledge of the Most High, which
saw the vision of the Almighty falling into a trance, but having his eyes
open." (67) Further, after he had blessed the Hebrews by the command of God,
he began (as was his custom) to prophesy to other nations, and to predict
their future; all of which abundantly shows that he had always been a
prophet, or had often prophesied, and (as we may also remark here) possessed
that which afforded the chief certainty to prophets of the truth of their
prophecy, namely, a mind turned wholly to what is right and good, for he did
not bless those whom he wished to bless, nor curse those whom he wished to
curse, as Balak supposed, but only those whom God wished to be blessed or
cursed. (68) Thus he answered Balak: "If Balak should give me his house full
of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord to do
either good or bad of my own mind; but what the Lord saith, that will I
speak." (69) As for God being angry with him in the way, the same happened
to Moses when he set out to Egypt by the command of the Lord; and as to his
receiving money for prophesying, Samuel did the same (1 Sam. ix:7, 8); if in
anyway he sinned, "there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and
sinneth not," Eccles. vii:20. (Vide 2 Epist. Peter ii:15, 16, and
Jude 5:11.)

(70) His speeches must certainly have had much weight with God, and His
power for cursing must assuredly have been very great from the number of
times that we find stated in Scripture, in proof of God's great mercy to the
Jews, that God would not hear Balaam, and that He changed the cursing to
blessing (see Deut. xxiii:6, Josh. xxiv:10, Neh. xiii:2). (71) Wherefore he
was without doubt most acceptable to God, for the speeches and cursings of
the wicked move God not at all. (72) As then he was a true prophet, and
nevertheless Joshua calls him a soothsayer or augur, it is certain that this
title had an honourable signification, and that those whom the Gentiles